Red Oak Reflects on 2025 Trends and Expectations for 2026

Overview

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As financial services compliance trends evolve in 2026, firms are facing new pressure to move faster without adding risk. Drawing on insights from across Red Oak, you'll hear key trends from 2025 and learn why connected workflows, AI governance, and audit-ready supervision will define the year ahead.

Critical Questions Powered by Red Oak

In 2026, financial services firms must treat AI governance as a core compliance function, not an innovation experiment. Regulators are expected to scrutinize how AI is used in content review, supervision, marketing, and decision-making—often using AI themselves during post-review examinations. Firms should implement documented AI workflows, model oversight, retention policies, and explainability standards that clearly show how decisions are made and reviewed. Strong AI governance requires audit-ready documentation, defined accountability, and controls that ensure AI enhances efficiency without introducing regulatory or reputational risk.

Firms operating with disconnected systems face heightened regulatory risk in 2026 due to gaps in visibility, inconsistent documentation, and slower response times. When compliance, marketing, distribution, and supervision operate in silos, firms struggle to prove oversight, demonstrate supervisory controls, and respond efficiently to regulatory exams. As scrutiny increases around existing rules—particularly books and records, Reg BI, cybersecurity, and AI-driven workflows—regulators will expect firms to show end-to-end auditability. Disconnected systems create blind spots where risk can go undetected, increasing exposure to fines, remediation costs, and reputational damage.

To scale compliant content distribution and supervision in 2026, firms need automated, integrated platforms that connect content creation, approval, delivery, and monitoring. As advisors communicate more digitally and content volumes increase across email, social media, websites, and collaboration tools, manual review processes become unsustainable. Firms must adopt solutions that deliver pre-approved, personalized content directly into advisor workflows while ensuring every interaction is supervised, archived, and auditable. Scalable compliance depends on connected systems that reduce manual effort, accelerate turnaround times, and maintain consistent oversight across channels.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome back to the deep dive. This is where we take a deep focused look at the source material you share with us, and we uh we really try to transform that heavy-duty research into genuinely memorable insights. And this time you handed us a stack of analysis from Red Oak's Thought Leaders. It looks back at the crucial trends that shaped 2025 and um really sets a clear, maybe even unsettling set of expectations for 2026.

Speaker 2: 0:27

Yeah, especially for the financial services landscape.

Speaker 1: 0:30

Right. If you work in this sector, 2025 probably felt like I don't know, like walking on two parallel tightropes at the same time.

Speaker 2: 0:37

That's a great way to put it.

Speaker 1: 0:38

And the analysis, it just captures this perfectly. It highlights these bizarre contradictions. For instance, you had this massive push for efficiency with AI, a total technology explosion.

Speaker 2: 0:47

But with no governance.

Speaker 1: 0:49

Exactly. No regulatory guidance, no framework. And then at the same time, the regulatory tone from Washington felt, you know, lighter, almost laissez-faire.

Speaker 2: 0:58

But the rules themselves hadn't changed one bit.

Speaker 1: 1:00

Not a single page. It was a year where every solution seemed to create a new immediate risk.

Speaker 2: 1:06

It was. It was a year defined by firms trying to accelerate while, you know, simultaneously hitting the brakes. And that tension, it creates enormous compliance pressure.

Speaker 1: 1:15

For sure.

Speaker 2: 1:16

So our core mission in this deep dive is really to extract the signal from that noise. How can firms actually achieve that role the analysts talk about? Working in a faster, smarter, connected way.

Speaker 1: 1:27

Cross-marketing, compliance, distribution.

Speaker 2: 1:30

All of it. All of it. And the real challenge is doing all of that without accidentally introducing some kind of catastrophic retrospective risk down the line.

Speaker 1: 1:38

That's the crux of it. If you feel like your firm is building a rocket ship with tools that are still sitting in separate workshops, you're hitting the nail on the head. Okay, let's unpack this and start with uh the biggest, most volatile shift, the sources identify. The AI explosion. Right. The sources confirm what I think everyone felt on the ground. 2025 was the breakout year for integrating AI into financial services.

Speaker 2: 2:00

No question.

Speaker 1: 2:01

Firms were under immense internal pressure, especially compliance teams, to deploy AI for content review, for workflow automation.

Speaker 2: 2:08

All the efficiency gains. But as Red Oak notes, the problem quickly flipped. It went from how do we adopt it to how do we possibly oversee it.

Speaker 1: 2:17

And that oversight challenge is what's defining the regulatory future.

Speaker 2: 2:21

Exactly. The chief technology officer, Rick Grashel, he makes this fascinating prediction for 2026. He argues the environment is shifting from simply allowing firms to use AI.

Speaker 1: 2:32

To expecting it.

Speaker 2: 2:33

To expecting it. And even more dramatically, he predicts that regulators and internal audit teams are, and I'm quoting here, poised to deploy AI against your firm's output.

Speaker 1: 2:44

That specific tension is fascinating to me. It's not just human auditors looking at decisions anymore. It could be AI versus AI on the audit front line.

Speaker 2: 2:52

It completely changes the game.

Speaker 1: 2:53

So if a regulator's algorithm finds your firm non-compliant, it just raises the stakes immensely on how precisely you deployed your own tech.

Speaker 2: 3:01

Aaron Powell It shifts the entire definition of what compliance even is. And that leads directly to this core insight from Mike Lubansky. AI governance is no longer optional.

Speaker 1: 3:10

It's non-negotiable.

Speaker 2: 3:11

It's non-negotiable. Firms that rushed implementation, you know, focusing only on speed and efficiency without real guardrails, they're facing serious exposure.

Speaker 1: 3:20

So to withstand that kind of tech-assisted audit, what do you need?

Speaker 2: 3:24

You must have comprehensive documentation of the model, clear oversight, strict data retention policies, and crucially explainability.

Speaker 1: 3:33

Okay, tell us more about explainability in practice. It's a term we hear all the time, but what does it actually mean for a compliance process?

Speaker 2: 3:42

It means you can't just say, well, the AI flagged this ad as noncompliant.

Speaker 1: 3:47

The computer said no.

Speaker 2: 3:48

The computer said no, exactly. You have to be able to demonstrate why. Which data inputs did it prioritize, which policy was violated?

Speaker 1: 3:55

Was the training data itself biased?

Speaker 2: 3:58

That's a huge one. For compliance purposes, that audit ready precision means being able to instantly reverse engineer the model's logic and prove that the firm acted responsibly.

Speaker 1: 4:06

Defensively.

Speaker 2: 4:07

And defensively based on verifiable criteria. Without that layer, I mean the efficiency gains are just completely outweighed by the legal risk.

Speaker 1: 4:14

And as this whole governance puzzle is being solved, the C-suite is demanding results. The sources call 2026 a pivotal put-up or shut-up year for AI ROI.

Speaker 2: 4:26

Yeah, the rubber has to meet the road.

Speaker 1: 4:28

Right. If executives don't see tangible bottom line proof that this massive investment is paying off, we're going to see a split. Some firms will double down and others will do a very careful strategic pullback.

Speaker 2: 4:40

The win condition here, according to the analysts, it's not about using the most AI. It's about using it from a compliance-first lens.

Speaker 1: 4:47

So implemented responsibly.

Speaker 2: 4:49

Responsibly, defensively, and with that audit-ready precision we were just talking about, the kind that will withstand a rigorous review, whether it's by a human or their new AI counterpart.

Speaker 1: 4:58

So it treats AI as a risk mitigator, not just a cost saver.

Speaker 2: 5:02

That's the key.Speaker

1: 5:02

Okay, let's pivot to the second major theme because it perfectly captures the psychological trap facing the industry right now. The duality of regulation and retrospective risk. The sources noted this strange, almost relaxing regulatory atmosphere in 2025. You had a major political administration signaling a lighter enforcement tone. Right. And longtime industry observers noted that FINRA's communications felt, you know, more laissez-faire than they were used to. If you're a firm trying to move fast, that seems like a green light, right?

Speaker 2: 5:34

That's the duality and that's the danger. Co-founder Cathy Vasilev pointed out the crucial counterpoint. She reminds us that while the political pendulum swings, which dictates the enforcement tone. Right, the tone. But as she says, none of the existing regulations disappear. Firms still have the exact same obligations for documentation, for books and records, for cybersecurity that they had five years ago.

Speaker 1: 5:57

So misinterpreting a softer tone as a softening of the actual rules. That's the trap.

Speaker 2: 6:03

That is where massive integrated risk just emerges.

Speaker 1: 6:06

I see the tension there. I mean if the environment feels easier, aren't some firms almost forced to take shortcuts just to stay competitive?

Speaker 2: 6:13

Absolutely. And that decision, it'll be judged in the future. Chief Operating Officer Kirsten Newbold-Knipp warns that even if SEC enforcement slowed down in 2025, regulatory action is inherently retrospective in nature.

Speaker 1: 6:26

So the decisions made today.

Speaker 2: 6:28

The shortcuts, the undocumented AI workflows, the lack of proper retention, all of that will be examined two or three years from now. By then, the political climate could be completely different.

Speaker 1: 6:39

And you're left exposed.

Speaker 2: 6:40

Exposed to massive fines for decisions that felt okay at the time. The time lag is the real risk.

Speaker 1: 6:46

It sounds like the safest strategy is just tight processes and built-in auditability, no matter who is in office.

Speaker 2: 6:52

And the industry is expecting a massive wake-up call on this. Red Oak's leaders are very specific here. They predict the first major AI-related fine.

Speaker 1: 7:01

Hitting an early adopter who cut corners.

Speaker 2: 7:04

Probably. And it will be a massive industry shockwave. It will instantly trigger a reaction, likely driving new regulations or at least a rapid hardening of the regulatory posture overnight.

Speaker 1: 7:14

Wow. And that one event will basically validate the regulator's strategy of just waiting and reviewing. So what kind of turbulence did the analysts list for 2026?

Speaker 2: 7:23

A few key things stand out. We should prepare for uh significantly increased documentation demands, especially around those AI workflows. There's also the potential for market instability, a major correction, for instance, which always triggers a regulatory response. And finally, greater scrutiny of existing rules, not new ones, plus a deep sustained focus on cybersecurity.

Speaker 1: 7:46

So the foundations haven't moved.

Speaker 2: 7:48

Not at all.

Speaker 1: 7:49

So while the focus has been on new tech and old rules, let's shift to the actual investment products because complexity is rising there too, and compliance workflows have to keep pace.

Speaker 2: 7:58

Dramatically.

Speaker 1: 7:59

The sources show the traditional 60-40 portfolio is just it's not enough for modern tax-sensitive investors anymore. And the engagement data on this is wild.

Speaker 2: 8:09

Yeah, that 4U platform data is something else.

Speaker 1: 8:11

Chief Distribution Evangelist Anita Heisl shared it. The search term direct indexing saw a stunning plus 3,221% surge in engagement.

Speaker 2: 8:21

3,000%. That isn't a fad. That's a fundamental change in what investors are demanding.

Speaker 1: 8:26

It's a huge shift.

Speaker 2: 8:27

A huge shift toward after tax returns, personalization, control. Direct indexing is moving from this niche service for the super rich to a mainstream expectation.

Speaker 1: 8:37

And this trend isn't isolated, right? It's part of a bigger move toward more sophisticated account solutions.

Speaker 2: 8:43

Exactly. The trend extends across similar structures. Engagement with unified managed account or UMA content was up 608%.

Speaker 1: 8:51

And separately managed accounts.

Speaker 2: 8:52

SMA content was up 224%. And this complexity, it's driven by client demand, but it's also a direct response to regulatory expectations, especially under Reg BI.

Speaker 1: 9:04

Regulation best interest. So how do UMA and SMA structures help with Reg BI compliance specifically?

Speaker 2: 9:09

They help because they enable centralized supervision. They create consistency. If you have hundreds of individual brokerage accounts, documentation is, well, it's a nightmare.

Speaker 1: 9:17

Scale by account.

Speaker 2: 9:18

Right. UMA and SMA structures let firms manage model portfolios centrally. And that inherently gives you better documentation, a more consistent client experience, and a much clearer audit trail.

Speaker 1: 9:29

Which is what you need to prove you met the best interest standard.

Speaker 2: 9:32

Precisely.

Speaker 1: 9:33

Beyond account structures, Newbold-Knipp also highlighted the complexity of the products themselves. We're seeing these almost hybrid financial products.

Speaker 2: 9:41

Yeah, I like the term investment turduckens. You're seeing alternative strategies wrapped inside familiar things like mutual funds or ETFs.

Speaker 1: 9:49

or insurance products with really complex tax components.

Speaker 2: 9:53

Right. And these products, they're financial feats, but they often span multiple regulatory regimes. You might have an insurance component and a securities component in the same product.

Speaker 1: 10:04

And compliance has to coordinate across different rule books.

Speaker 2: 10:07

Simultaneously. It dramatically amplifies the need for speed. You can't let compliance be the bottleneck when innovation is moving this fast.

Speaker 1: 10:16

Let's look at what advisors themselves are searching for, starting with the investment outlook content they were consuming heavily in December 2025. Okay.

Speaker 2: 10:25

Red Oak's partners identified five major themes for the coming year.

Speaker 1: 10:28

And these themes, they really provide the context for all the compliance pressures we've been talking about.

Speaker 2: 10:33

They do. First, AI has to prove its ROI in the investment space. So focus on durable cash flow, not just spending on tech. Valuation discipline is key. Got it. Second, while economic expansion is anticipated, high government debt and tight liquidity mean the margin for error globally is Well, it's razor thin. Okay, the third theme is about income. As rates trend lower, the starting yield matters more than trying to time the market.

Speaker 1: 11:00

Exactly. Reinforcing the role of income generating assets. Fourth, diversification has to evolve. The analysts stress that relying on traditional stock and bond correlations is less reliable now.

Speaker 2: 11:12

Because of sticky inflation and something they call fiscal dominance.

Speaker 1: 11:16

And fiscal dominance is crucial here. It's the idea that government spending and debt levels might dictate central bank policy more than inflation targets do.

Speaker 2: 11:24

That kind of instability breaks the old models.

Speaker 1: 11:27

It breaks them. And finally, the fifth theme. 2026 is expected to be a year of dispersion, not broad-based gains. This is a direct warning to passive investors. Passive exposure, they say, will not cut it.

Speaker 2: 11:39

So you need active oversight, which again puts immense pressure on compliance to quickly approve materials for those active strategies.

Speaker 1: 11:45

It all connects. But beyond market themes, what were advisors searching for when volatility hit in 2025?

Speaker 2: 11:52

We got a fascinating snapshot of behavior during uncertainty. When major events happened, advisors immediately turned to compliant educational content.

Speaker 1: 12:01

So what were the top searches?

Speaker 2: 12:02

On the 4U platform, terms related to tariffs, the big beautiful bill, that big infrastructure and climate legislation and the government shutdown. It shows that when clients are nervous, advisors need timely, approved materials.

Speaker 1: 12:16

And linking back to our first section, AI-related searches by advisors climbed 60%.

Speaker 2: 12:21

Right. It tells us that advisors and their clients expect their wealth platforms to help them understand and navigate the AI revolution.

Speaker 1: 12:28

Yet the sources also show the enduring priorities are still those deeply personal decisions.

Speaker 2: 12:32

Always. Social Security, Medicare, retirement, estate planning, long-term care.

Speaker 1: 12:37

And all of this, the complexity, the volatility, the tech the client needs, it funnels into our final and most urgent section.

Speaker 2: 12:44

The overwhelming need for a connected ecosystem. Principal product advisor James Cella issued a pretty significant warning about content volume. He expects it to dramatically increase in 2026, driven by volatility and the digital shift. As he puts it, the industry is talking less and typing more.

Speaker 1: 13:03

And every digital piece, every email, every social post, every AI-generated draft adds to the compliance workload.

Speaker 2: 13:10

It has to be supervised across a constantly growing number of channels.

Speaker 1: 13:14

And the sources pinpoint the bottleneck. It isn't bad software, it's the disjointed technology, siloed solution.

Speaker 2: 13:21

It's the gaps. The problem is the numerous manual handoffs between platforms, departments, and vendors. That's where risk, as Red Oak notes, can creep in unnoticed.

Speaker 1: 13:30

And that's why firms are now rapidly prioritizing integrated ecosystems. They need systems with complete visibility, scalability, and seamless risk controls that span all the teams.

Speaker 2: 13:40

Marketing, legal compliance, all in one view. It's really the only way to manage the workload without hiring dozens of new analysts.

Speaker 1: 13:46

And looking ahead, the analysis points to the emerging importance of semantic layers and shared industry ontology. Now this sounds like jargon.

Speaker 2: 13:54

It does, but it's actually the key to what they call connected intelligence. Think of an ontology as a universal dictionary for all your firm's data and processes.

Speaker 1: 14:04

So all the platforms speak the same language.

Speaker 2: 14:06

Exactly. And as AI's role in reg tech grows, that connective intelligence allows the firm to understand context across different users, roles, and companies instantly. A term flagged by compliance in one department is flagged correctly and consistently everywhere.

Speaker 1: 14:21

So what does this all mean for you listening? The ultimate solution being prioritized is a connected platform that eliminates that friction, proactively reduces risk, and gets approved materials out the door when advisors need them.

Speaker 2: 14:35

All backed by robust, centralized books and records controls.

Speaker 1: 14:38

This has been a fascinating journey. We've gone from the AI governance gauntlet through that regulatory duality of soft talk and hard rules, the rising complexity of products, and that constant content flood. The central takeaway for 2026 seems to be that if you operate in silos, you simply cannot mitigate integrated risk.

Speaker 2: 14:55

And that leads to the core requirement for the coming year: achieving tight connected processes with guaranteed auditability built in at every single stage.Speaker 1: 15:04

Because the tech and the expectations are evolving faster than the written rule.

Speaker 2: 15:08

Far faster. And in that kind of environment, that defensive strategy is the safest and most defensible approach.

Speaker 1: 15:14

It provides clarity in a very uncertain time. And it leaves us with one final provocative thought, and this comes directly from the source material. Okay. If regulators are poised to deploy AI to audit a firm's compliance decisions, and firms have to rely on their own internal AI to achieve that audit ready precision, what happens when those two powerful algorithms fundamentally disagree on what is compliant? Will the future of financial compliance ultimately hinge entirely on which algorithm has the superior and most defensible explainability framework? That is a challenge worth contemplating.

Read the Blog Post

The past year challenged financial services firms with a mix of contradictions: a lighter regulatory tone but unchanged rules, a surge in AI adoption but no regulatory governance, increasingly complex investment products alongside increasingly risk-sensitive investors, and advisors facing both rising expectations and rising content volume.

When reflecting on 2025 and looking ahead to 2026 with Red Oak’s thought leaders, one theme stood out: Firms need a faster, smarter, connected way to work across compliance, marketing, distribution, and supervision without adding risk.

Insights from Red Oak's Compliance Team

We spoke with Chief Technology Officer Rick Grashel, Senior Vice President of Strategy, Mike Lubansky, Co-Founder and Compliance Advisor Cathy Vasilev and Chief Operating Officer Kirsten Newbold-Knipp to gather trends and predictions from a compliance perspective.

AI’s Breakout Year—and Its Breaking Point

This year, compliance teams felt immense pressure to incorporate AI.

While some firms saw efficiency gains. Others struggled to convert AI’s promise into operational lift. But the biggest challenge was not adoption—it was oversight.

Grashel explained that AI was at the crux of 2025 trends. Firms were expected to embrace AI and incorporate it into content review processes. While this will undoubtably continue in 2026, he expects regulatory authorities to incorporate AI into their post-review as well, stating that “regulators and internal audit teams are poised to deploy AI to make an initial determination if a firm made a compliant decision.”

Lubansky echoed this concern, stating that in 2026, AI governance will move from “nice-to-have” to non-negotiable. AI governance may be challenging for firms and technology vendors if they have built AI into their processes for optimizing efficiency without putting in all the necessary guardrails around documentation, model oversight, retention, and explainability. This will matter just as much as efficiency gains.

Furthermore, 2026 will likely become a “put up or shut up” year for AI ROI. If executives don’t see bottom-line proof, some will double down while others will strategically pull back.

The firms that win will be the ones using AI from a compliance-first lens, ensuring it’s implemented responsibly, defensibly, and with audit-ready precision.

Regulation in a Shifting Political Climate

Regulation in 2025 carried an unusual duality. On one hand, the early Trump administration signaled a desire for fewer regulations and lighter enforcement—a message that, if taken at face value, suggested a more forgiving compliance environment. But as Vasilev noted, “while the pendulum swings with each administration, none of the existing regulations disappear. Firms still face the same obligations around documentation, books and records, cybersecurity, and marketing and distribution oversight.”

Meanwhile, FINRA’s communications in 2025 felt more laissez-faire, a shift that stood out to long-time industry observers. This lack of guidance left some compliance teams wondering how to incorporate AI—and what enforcement might look like. Risk starts to emerge when firms misinterpret the tone and act as if the rules have softened.

Newbold-Knipp reiterated Vasilev’s stance on regulatory expectation regardless of shifting political priorities. She said, “SEC enforcement may have slowed in 2025, but it’s retrospective in nature. Decisions firms make today will be examined two or three years from now.” Seasoned firms should be prepared, knowing that the tide can turn quickly. In a year where expectations evolve faster than formal regulation, the safest strategy is tight, connected processes with auditability built in.

The group warned that the first major AI-related fine will set off an industry-wide shockwave. Firms furthest along in early adoption who also have weak governance frameworks will bear the highest risk. It's likely that the penalty will drive new regulations and a shift in regulatory posture.

Looking ahead, Red Oak leaders expect more turbulence in 2026:

Increased documentation expectations, especially around workflows involving AI.
Potential macro or market instability that could trigger a regulatory response.
Greater scrutiny of existing, well-known rules, rather than brand-new regulations.
A continued focus on cybersecurity and protecting sensitive personal information.

Insights from Red Oak's Distribution Team

As marketing expectations evolve, financial firms need tools that make it easier for advisors to deliver timely, relevant, and personalized content to their clients. Red Oak’s Distribution & Engagement solution, 4U, connects seamlessly with financial firms’ compliance systems to deliver pre-approved content directly into advisors’ workflows. From content creation to delivery and analysis, every step is auditable, automated, and compliant.

We spoke with Chief Distribution Evangelist Anita Heisl and Chief Operating Officer Kirsten Newbold-Knipp to explore trends from a content distribution and advisor engagement perspective.

Complexity in portfolio construction is rising, and firms are emphasizing unified oversight, sleeve-level management, and tax-aware implementation.

Heisl revisited and analyzed 2025 content within Red Oak’s compliant content distribution product, 4U. She identified trending topics and search terms among advisors—offering a glimpse into the questions, conversations, and concerns advisors were hearing from investors throughout the year. Heisl reported that the topic “direct indexing” saw a staggering +3,221% surge in engagement on Red Oak’s 4U platform, showing that investors don’t just want to understand direct indexing, they want to understand how it fits into their overall tax planning. This surge reflects a fundamental shift in investor priorities toward after-tax returns, personalization, and control. Direct indexing is moving from a premium offering to a mainstream expectation as more content—aimed at a broader set of investors—is being added to the platform.

In 2025, engagement with UMA content increased by 608% and SMA content increased by 224% in the platform, with advisors consuming foundational educational content. Regulatory expectations around suitability, documentation, and model oversight—including the implications of Reg BI—are also pushing firms to adopt account structures that provide stronger central supervision and consistency, which UMAs can help with.

Newbold-Knipp notes that product innovation grew in complexity too. Firms increasingly introduced hybrid investment products—such as alternative strategies wrapped in mutual fund or ETF structures, or insurance products with tax-advantaged components. These offerings often span multiple regulatory regimes, requiring heightened coordination between marketing, distribution, and compliance.

This growing product complexity—which is expected to continue and gain momentum in 2026—amplifies the need for connected workflows that ensure consistency across departments and faster turnaround times for advisor-facing materials.

In December 2025, data in Red Oak’s 4U platform showed a surge in advisor searches for “2026” and “2026 Outlook” content in the platform. When looking at content from our investment company partners, these five themes surfaced and will shape the investment landscape in 2026: From the content we've seen from our investment company partners, we're expecting these five themes to be a focus for advisors in 2026:

2026 will be a “prove-it” year for AI in the investment space just as it is in RegTech. The focus will move away from who is spending on AI and toward who can translate that spending into productivity gains, earnings growth, and durable cash flow. Not all AI-related investments will deliver and valuation discipline will be.
Growth should continue, but the margin for error is thinner. Most outlooks anticipate continued economic expansion in 2026, but high debt levels, tighter liquidity, and policy uncertainty reduce the system’s ability to absorb shocks.
Starting yield matters more than timing. As policy rates trend lower, cash becomes less compelling, reinforcing the role of income-generating assets in portfolios.
Diversification still matters, but it must evolve beyond traditional models. The reliance on stocks and bonds moving in opposite directions is less reliable in a world of sticky inflation risk, fiscal dominance, and shifting correlations.
2026 will be a year of dispersion rather than broad-based gains. Passive exposure will not cut it, portfolios must have active oversight to manage risk and uncover opportunity.

Insights from Red Oak's Supervision Team

In today’s digital-first landscape, supervision is critical. In collaboration with our partners at MirrorWeb, Red Oak’s Supervision & Monitoring solutions help compliance teams oversee all digital interactions—from websites and social media to text messages and collaboration tools—with powerful automation and trusted archiving.

We discussed trends in the supervision space with Chief Supervision Evangelist James Cella, Chief Operating Officer Kirsten Newbold-Knipp and Chief Distribution Evangelist Anita Heisl.

Content Volume

Cella warned that content volumes will only increase in 2026—driven by both market volatility and the shift toward digital communication. People are “talking less and typing more,” and each piece of digital content becomes part of the compliance workload, requiring diligent supervision.

Compliance teams must oversee more content from more channels with the same or fewer resources. In addition to increased content volume, each vendor requires initial and ongoing due diligence, making more robust RegTech solutions appealing.

Newbold-Knipp anticipates that firms will feel pressure to use AI in smart—and sometimes risky—ways as consumers expect fast, seamless and personalized financial advice.

Advisor Behavior

2025 revealed a shift in how advisors source information and support their clients during volatile periods.

On Red Oak's 4U platform, Heisl shared that the term most-searched by advisors during the year was “tariffs,” followed closely by queries related to the “Big Beautiful Bill” and the government shutdown—an indication that advisors turn to compliant educational content to help their clients navigate times of uncertainty.

AI-related searches climbed 60%, making it clear that advisors and investors are not just curious about artificial intelligence; they expect their wealth platforms to help them navigate it.

Social Security, Medicare, retirement planning, estate planning, and long-term care continue to be priorities for advisors each year, sitting at the intersection of financial security, policy complexity, and deeply personal client decision-making. The sustained volume of searches indicates that advisors are looking for clear, compliant explanations they can share with clients who are navigating some of the most consequential financial decisions in their lives.

Financial organizations must provide timely, relevant, and compliant educational materials to help advisors support investors—when and where investors want to consume that content. And it’s imperative that communications are closely supervised to remain compliant.

The Need for a Connected Ecosystem

Because of the increasing complexity across channels and departments, firms are prioritizing integrated ecosystems rather than siloed solutions. They not only want systems that connect; they need visibility, scalability, and risk controls that span teams and workflows.

Disjointed technology has become one of the industry’s most significant bottlenecks, especially when it comes to driving further efficiencies and automation. Software alone isn't the problem, it's the gaps between software solutions. Too many platforms and too many handoffs between departments, firms, and vendors create too many places where risk can creep in unnoticed.

Throughout 2025, Red Oak doubled down on innovation, investing in its compliance, distribution and supervision product families to help firms address industry challenges

Looking ahead to 2026, Red Oak leaders pointed out the emerging importance of semantic layers and shared industry ontology—the connective intelligence that enables platforms to understand each other, but more importantly understand context across companies, roles and users. As AI's role in FinTech—and particularly RegTech—continues to grow, establishing unambiguous shared language will be essential.

In 2026, Red Oak is poised to stay ahead of what’s next with its Compliance Connectivity Platform. The unified ecosystem features compliance-grade AI, streamlined workflows that accelerate productivity without adding risk, and a connected distribution experience that delivers approved content to advisors exactly when they need it—all backed by the books-and-records controls firms rely on to collaborate confidently.

Red Oak’s Compliance Connectivity Platform is designed to eliminate friction across teams, proactively reduce risk at every stage, and empower firms to operate with confidence in an increasingly unpredictable environment.

Contributors

This blog post draws on insights from across Red Oak, including contributions from Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Rick Grashel (LinkedIn); Senior Vice President of Strategy Mike Lubansky (LinkedIn); Co-Founder and Compliance Advisor Cathy Vasilev (LinkedIn); Chief Operating Officer Kirsten Newbold-Knipp (LinkedIn); Chief Supervision Evangelist James Cella (LinkedIn); and Chief Distribution Evangelist Anita Heisl (LinkedIn).